Self-guided hike to Rainbow Mountain: An Easy Day Trip

By Connected Horizons

Discovered just over a couple of years ago due to melting of the glaciers, today visiting Rainbow Mountain is nothing but the pinnacle of the hiking tourism around the area of Cusco. Up above at 5100m over sea level, the seven different colours in display are an incredible sight for all those looking to see a natural wonder. Even though you might not believe at the over-saturated images found in the internet, you’ll be amazed by how gorgeous the coloured landscapes will be.

In town, pretty much every tour agency offers the hike to the rainbow mountain and even though prices, times and such can differ a lot, the service is usually exactly the SAME. Imagine hundreds of people all heading up Rainbow mountain at the same time… not that appealing uh.

So is it really worth and feasible to go on your own ?


A Short Overview: Tours or Do It Yourself

The typical tour will cost you anything between 50-100 soles (15-30$/pp) and will usually start with a big van picking you up in the early morning. More expensive companies will usually pick you up at 2.30-3am, will include a small breakfast, a guide, potentially oxygen tanks and/or coca leaves for altitude sickness and usually “small” groups (15 people). Less expensive companies will usually pick you up at 3-4am, will include a guide, small breakfast, no sickness remedies and mostly put you in groups of 30 people. Oh, did we mention that if you go with tours you’re allowed 20min max at the top ?

The easiest way to do this on you own is to rent a car but you should be considering doing this if you’re at least 2 people. Even though it might sounds taunting at first, if you’ve got some experience in driving and are ready for an adventure this is the way to go. In Cusco there are many rentals but we suggest going to Cusco Rent a Car which for just 40$/day gives you a decent car with insurance included. The great thing about this is that you can get there at pretty much whatever time you want but more than that you won’t have to wait for anybody on the hike.

WARNING: In any circumstance, make sure that the day you’re planning to go, whether on a tour or by yourself, the weather forecast must predict a sunny day!

Driving There

The drive to Rainbow Mountain to Cusco is a long 3h15min, something like 2h on asphalt and 1h15min on mountain dirt roads, where having a map app like maps.me is a must. In order to avoid crows and enjoying the fullest we suggest you leave Cusco at 2.30am.

Turn off to Rainbow mountain after Hanchipacha

The first step is to get to Checacupe, a decently sized town that is conveniently located at the turn with the dirt road. After finding the right dirt road (maps will be the only way to find it), you’ll pass a big town (Pitumarca), several small villages (Huito, Llaulliri, C. Karwi, Labraco, Ocefina, Japura) and just after the last one (Hanchipacha) there’s gonna be the second and last turn off that will lead you up to the entrance and parking lot of Rainbow Mountain.

Start of the Trailhead

Entrance and ticket booth

The Hike to the top

If everything goes as planned, you should be getting at the trailhead (starting from the parking lot) to Rainbow Mountain by 5.45am, which is roughly when the first rays of sunrise should start to light up the valley. Just after a small break we started hiking and the only people we could see in front of us was another couple with about 30min advantage on us. Needless to say that the landscapes, views and everything else was something unique.

To give you a short summary of the hike, in the first you’ll be walking in a valley, then you’ll start to hike up a slope, then a small flat and then the final push on a very very steep slope to get you to the mirador of the mountain. In total the hike up took us 2h30min but could also take you up to 4h, it all depends to how used you are to walk at high altitude. Don’t forget that you’ll be hiking between 4400m and 5100m!

If you’re not feeling good or are not willing to walk you can also opt to take a horse (60 soles) but even in this circumstance you’ll still be dropped down at 4900m and have to walk the last hard bit by yourself.

Just a couple of months before writing this post, it was discovered another way to get to Rainbow Mountain which it supposed to be easier and faster (just 2h of hiking) and starts in the opposite direction of the “official” path. Tour companies seems to be taking that route now and very few opt for the old most beautiful one.

View from the top

Expectation vs. reality

Overall, doing this hike and having a chance to see Rainbow Mountain was one of the best hikes we’ve ever done so far in our trip. The desolated landscapes full of llamas, the snowy peaks and the incredible colours were just something you don’t see every day!

In terms of how enjoyable staying at the top was, we were already expecting to see other tourists so that didn’t spoil it that much. To say the truth, by 8.30am we were at the top and were sharing the views with some other 20-30 people in total so it wasn’t that bad. Additionally, the weather was sunny, literally just two clouds, so it was perfect to say the least. Before we left…

Looking back, there’s not a single thing we’d change if we were to do it again. Leave at 2.30am from Cusco, get there at 5.45am, start hiking at 6am with nobody, get to the top by 8.30am, enjoy the views for an hour and then head back down when the majority of the people are heading up.


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